There's a lot of risk in movies. We don't mean movies about risk and insurance, though there are a few pretty solid options in that genre ("Double Indemnity," "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Along Came Polly," "The Apartment," "Cedar Rapids" — even Mr. Incredible does a short stint at an insurance firm).
We're talking about movies with big production risks — which don't always pay off. A typical Hollywood movie requires a host of coverages, including general liability, property and inland marine, auto, workers' compensation, even data and cybersecurity.
Film producers have to make sure that they have coverage for more industry-specific elements like props and sets, film and video protection, cast insurance and third-party property damage. This means that underwriters get early access to scripts and budgets, but they also have the difficult task of writing policies for employees (a cast) that live unconventional lifestyles, using highly technical equipment in rough locations, and all the one-off risks that come with dropping cars out of an airplane or creating a replica of a portion of the tallest building in the world.
Here's our list of seven movies that took big risks, some of which resulted in pretty hefty claims.
Elizabeth and Richard Jones flip through photos of their daughter Sarah Jones, the 27-year-old camera assistant killed Feb. 20, 2014 by a freight train while filming "Midnight Rider" in southeast Georgia. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
7. "Midnight Rider"
The biopic about Allman Brothers Band founder Gregg Allman made headlines following the tragic death of camera assistant Sarah Jones while filming a scene on an active railroad trestle bridge. The incident resulted in multiple criminal charges and fines for the film's director and producers. The film's production company and its original insurance company continue to battle it out in court over payouts and coverage going forward.
Sylvester Stallone and co-star Janine Turner at the premiere of "Cliffhanger" at Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Calif. on May 26, 1993. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez)
6. "Cliffhanger"
After the film's insurance company refused to cover the famous scene in which a character travels from one plane to another 15,000 feet in the air, Sylvester Stallone allegedly took a pay cut to cover the cost of the stunt. The stuntman was paid $1 million for a single take that didn't involve any safety equipment or trick photography. It holds the Production Guinness World Record for most expensive aerial stunt.
Actor Tom Cruise attends the U.S. premiere of "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Dec.19, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
5. "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol"
The fourth Mission: Impossible installment features a scene where Tom Cruise scales Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Cruise is known for doing a lot of his own stunts and didn't see why this sequence should be any different. The film's insurance company disagreed and demanded that a stunt double perform the scene. Cruise and the production team ended up firing that insurer and finding a company that would write a policy and allow Cruise to perform the insane stunt.
Sylvester Stallone and his "Rocky IV" co-star Brigitte Nielsen at their wedding in 1985. (AP Photo)
4. "Rocky IV"
While filming the final fight scene, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren agreed to up the realism and really go at it for one take. After about 15 seconds, Stallone was beat up badly enough to require an emergency room visit later that day for swelling of his pericardial sac, which surrounds the heart. He spent nine days in the hospital.
Eventually, it came time to file a claim based on the incident. We'll let Sly tell the rest:
"Lloyd's of London said, 'This accident is not in keeping with boxing. Usually this kind of pericardial swelling is the result of head-on collisions, when the steering wheel hits you in the chest.' I said, 'Well, have you seen Dolph Lundgren? That's a truck. That's a steering wheel. That's a head-on collision.' So they took the film and broke it down frame by frame. They honored the insurance claim."
Melanie Griffith and mother Tippi Hedren both starred in and were injured during production of the little-seen "Roar." (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
3. "Roar"
There's a reason this 1981 movie wasn't released until 2015. In the movie, a family tries to live with dozens of big cats — lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards and jaguars. At least 70 members of its cast were injured during the 11-year production, including a young Melanie Griffith. Shockingly, the film had no insurance coverage and was "self-insured" — one of the many reasons it has since been dubbed the most dangerous movie ever made.
Robert Downey Jr. at the world premiere of "Iron Man 3″ held on April 24, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Eric Carbonneau/Invision/AP)
2. "Iron Man 3″
Up until the record-breaking claim involving the number one riskiest movie, a claim filed during the filming of 2013′s "Iron Man 3″ held the distinction of the most expensive insurance settlement involving a franchise blockbuster film. A three-week delay in filming after Robert Downey Jr. broke his ankle resulted in a claim of about $10 to $15 million.
A tribute to Paul Walker at the MTV Movie Awards on April 13, 2014. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
1. "Furious 7″
The seventh installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise has the distinction of involving the largest insurance claim in Hollywood history. No, it wasn't from that insane scene of drivers parachuting out of planes while in their cars. Instead, it was prompted by Paul Walker's tragic death during filming. His untimely passing led to shooting delays that lasted weeks, significant script rewrites and the use of expensive face-replacement technology. All told, the film's insurer, Fireman's Fund, faced a claim that was estimated at $50 million.
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